Consonant Sounds & Liaisons

French consonants are generally softer and more precise than their English counterparts. This lesson covers the key consonant sounds, the rules for soft and hard c and g, the behaviour of final consonants, and the uniquely French phenomenon of liaison.

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Consonant Sounds Overview

Most French consonants are similar to English, but several have important differences:

Consonant	French Sound	English Comparison	Example
b	/b/	Same as English	bon (good)
c	/k/ or /s/	Depends on following vowel	chat, cinéma
d	/d/	Same, but tongue touches teeth	deux (two)
f	/f/	Same as English	femme (woman)
g	/g/ or /ʒ/	Depends on following vowel	gare, genre
h	silent	Never pronounced	homme (man)
j	/ʒ/	Like "s" in "measure"	jour (day)
k	/k/	Same as English (rare in French)	kilo
l	/l/	Same as English	livre (book)
m	/m/	Same as English	maison (house)
n	/n/	Same, tongue touches teeth	nuit (night)
p	/p/	Same, but less breathy	père (father)
q	/k/	Always followed by u	quatre (four)
r	/ʁ/	Guttural, from throat	rouge (red)
s	/s/ or /z/	Depends on position	salut, raison
t	/t/	Tongue touches teeth	table
v	/v/	Same as English	ville (city)
w	/v/ or /w/	Varies by word origin	wagon
x	/ks/ or /gz/	Depends on context	exemple, taxi
y	/j/	Like English "y" in "yes"	yeux (eyes)
z	/z/	Same as English	zéro

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Soft and Hard C

The letter c has two pronunciations depending on the vowel that follows:

Hard C = /k/

Before a, o, u, or a consonant:

Word	Meaning	Pronunciation
café	coffee	"kah-FAY"
comment	how	"koh-MAHN"
cuisine	kitchen	"kwee-ZEEN"
classe	class	"klahs"
crayon	pencil	"kray-OHN"

Soft C = /s/

Before e, i, or y:

Word	Meaning	Pronunciation
cinéma	cinema	"see-nay-MAH"
centre	centre	"SAHN-truh"
cycliste	cyclist	"see-KLEEST"
ciel	sky	"syel"

The Cédille (ç)

When you need a soft "s" sound before a, o, or u, French adds a cédille:

Without Cédille	Sound	With Cédille	Sound
ca = "ka"	/k/	ça = "sa"	/s/
co = "ko"	/k/	—	—
cu = "ku"	/k/	reçu = "ruh-su"	/s/

Word	Meaning	Pronunciation
français	French	"frahn-SAY"
leçon	lesson	"luh-SOHN"
garçon	boy/waiter	"gar-SOHN"
ça	that/it	"sah"

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Soft and Hard G

The letter g follows the same pattern as c:

Hard G = /g/

Before a, o, u, or a consonant:

Word	Meaning	Pronunciation
gare	station	"gar"
gorge	throat	"gorzh"
goût	taste	"goo"
grand	big	"grahn"
glace	ice cream	"glahs"

Soft G = /ʒ/ (like "s" in "measure")

Before e, i, or y:

Word	Meaning	Pronunciation
genre	type/gender	"zhahn-ruh"
girafe	giraffe	"zhee-RAHF"
gymnase	gymnasium	"zheem-NAHZ"
page	page	"pahzh"

Keeping Hard G before E or I

To keep the hard /g/ sound before e or i, French inserts a silent u:

Word	Meaning	Pronunciation	Why U?
guide	guide	"geed"	U keeps g hard before i
guerre	war	"gehr"	U keeps g hard before e
guitare	guitar	"gee-TAR"	U keeps g hard before i
bague	ring	"bahg"	U keeps g hard before e

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The Letter S: Voiced vs. Voiceless

The letter s changes its sound based on its position:

Position	Sound	Rule	Example
Beginning of word	/s/ (voiceless)	Always "ss" sound	salut (hello)
Between two vowels	/z/ (voiced)	Single s = z	raison (reason)
Double ss between vowels	/s/ (voiceless)	Double s = ss	poisson (fish)
Before a consonant	/s/ (voiceless)		espace (space)

Important Pair: poisson (fish, /s/) vs. poison (poison, /z/). The double s makes all the difference!